Tim Riehm – DREAM TOUR

In this Dream Tour segment, the singer-songwriter, Tim Riehm, reveals who he would want on his ultimate tour lineup. You can check out their picks, after the break.

My dream tour: a blend of fresh faces from left-of-center pop, a collaboration that isn’t still a thing (even though it’s been hinted at coming back), and an artist who I’d have to credit as my all-time favorite. It would run deep, and it would (of course) be global, stretching from Tokyo to Vancouver to Australia and more. Let’s get into it.

As a short acoustic opener, I’d call upon Gus Dapperton. I love what he’s doing right now, and his production feels right up my alley when it comes to meshing sounds of alt-rock, singer-songwriter, and pop genres. “Post Humorous” in particular would be my first request, but “Palms” and basically anything from his last album Orca would definitely be must-haves.

After Gus plays his thirty-minute set, I’d give Dominic Fike an hour—he’s easily one of my favorite current artists at the moment. His ability to blend hip-hop elements with organic instrumentation, his melodic intuition, and his skill at putting it all in a pop-leaning format sets him up to be a huge player in the years to come. He’d be a great transition from Gus’s acoustic vibes into a higher BPM party with songs like “Vampire” and “3 Nights”.

After Dominic, I’d get blackbear to do his thing. His songs “me & ur ghost” and “smile again” were 2020 anthems of mine and repeatedly blasted from the speakers of my car. I love his production and lyricism, and, like Dominic Fike but in a more obviously pop way, blackbear is so good at blending pop, hip-hop, and singer-songwriter genres. During his set, I’d want Mike Posner to make an appearance, too—that way they could take fifteen (or more) minutes of the set to do a few songs from their mansionz collaboration. I LOVED THAT ALBUM, and I wish they’d do it again. “STFU”, “Gorgeous”, and “Rich White Girls” would be absolutely necessary, but from that album, it’s so hard to choose. Maybe they would just want to play the whole thing—who knows? I’d let them.

And, finally, after the indefinitely long blackbear/mansionz set, I would take the stage for a dynamic set, where I’d play with a massive band—background singers for days, percussion, sampler, the list goes on. I’d want to do it big. My first few songs would up-tempo and fresh takes on some old favorites—assuming I’ve had some number ones by the time of this tour (*wink*). After a solid few of those, I’d bring the showdown to an acoustic level, and I’d bring out my (by that point) long-time friend John Mayer to help me play a few songs from the CARE PACKAGE—and maybe even a few of his. After sufficient tears from the audience have been shed, I’d ask John to help me bring the energy back up and play the show out on a high note, playing more of those number ones and definitely the old fan-favorite “Expectations”. Ideally, I’d just bring out each of the other artists and ask them to add their flair to whatever song I played for closer, but I’d leave that to them.

After the show ends, everyone in the crowd would walk away with red eyes, but also with sore cheeks from smiling so much. Their legs would be sore from dancing and moving so much, and their voices would be gone from singing along. I mean—I’d buy tickets.

Keep up with him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.